


disturbing if unsurprising

by iceprinceofbelair



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gen, flying car
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:50:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iceprinceofbelair/pseuds/iceprinceofbelair
Summary: A look at what happened in the lead up to Fred, George, and Ron deciding to fly to Surrey to rescue Harry.





	disturbing if unsurprising

Fred and George haven’t spent much time with the rest of the family this summer which doesn’t tend to bode well for their siblings. This time, however, they aren’t planning a prank. Well, not one which they intend to use on the Weasley clan, at any rate. No, this is something bigger - much bigger. 

They’re going to open a joke shop.

Not yet, of course. Their mother will murder them in their beds if they leave school without any O.W.L’s. But one day, they will. This is why they’ve been spending so much time holed up in their shared bedroom and, by the middle of July, the idea is finally starting to take shape. It’s something of a childish fantasy at the moment but they’re certain it won’t always be this way. Fred and George are firm believers that anything is possible if you have enough nerve, a lesson they’re pleased to have successfully taught to Ginny.

(Fred and George love Ginny - she’s fire and courage and an absolute whizz on the quidditch pitch. She’s funny and she’s clever and, perhaps best of all, she loves a good prank. Sometimes, she can finish their sentences too. Secretly, they think of her as their honorary triplet.)

Spending little time with the others means that they don’t notice the change in their little brother until the morning of the penultimate day of July. 

At breakfast that morning, Ron is quiet. He pushes his food around his plate instead of eating it which is what initially sets off alarm bells in George’s head. Ron doesn’t tend to go off his food unless he’s worried - even illness doesn’t diminish his appetite. Upon noticing, George throws a significant glance at his twin who nods. 

Ron excuses himself early. The twins raise pointed eyebrows at one another but finish their toast before following him upstairs. They find him in his bedroom, flicking half-heartedly through his Potions textbook with a half-finished essay on the bed beside him.

“Alright, Ronniekins?” Fred asks, whisking the textbook away from his brother and ignoring his cry of annoyance. George takes the book from Fred, holding it upside down.

“Don’t know how you can get any sense out of this thing,” George mutters, pretending to squint at the words.

Ron’s lips twitch briefly in amusement but it doesn’t last long. “Give it back!” He snaps, making a grab for the book but George holds it out of his reach.

“Tell us what’s eating you-” he says.

“And we’ll consider it.” Fred finishes.

Ron scowls and folds his arms. “It’s none of your business,” he says firmly. 

Fred smirks. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” he says and Ron blushes furiously just like they knew he would.

“I don’t wear  _ knickers! _ ” He retorts. 

“Figure of speech, brother dear,” Fred laughs, plonking himself down on the bed next to Ron. George does the same on his other side and Ron’s hands dart out to rescue his essay before George can sit on it. 

“Come on then,” George urges. “Spit it out.”

Ron looks uncomfortable and the twins start to get the feeling that this is a little more serious than a particularly difficult essay or two. Something is really bothering their Ickle Ronniekins and they intend to find out what it is.

As luck would have it, they don’t have to try very hard. Despite his earlier protests, Ron is clearly desperate to get his worries off his chest.

“Harry hasn’t written all summer,” he says quietly. “Me and Hermione have written loads of times but she hasn’t heard anything back either.”

Silence falls for a moment following Ron’s confession.

“You think something’s wrong?” Fred asks, hoping that nothing serious has happened. The twins like Harry and not just because he can tell them apart better than their own mother can but because he’s sweet and quick-witted and mischievous to boot. 

Ron nods miserably. “It’s not like him to break a promise.”

The twins know this to be true. Harry is unwaveringly honest and loyal when it comes to promises. If it wasn’t for his penchant for getting into trouble, they might have wondered why he hadn’t been sorted into Hufflepuff. If he hasn’t written, something is definitely wrong.

“And,” Ron continues, “I heard Dad saying yesterday that he got a warning for using magic. He  _ knows  _ not to use magic outside of school so why would he risk it unless something was really wrong?”

“Do you know where he lives?” George asks thoughtfully and Ron looks up, surprised.

“Yeah,” he says, suspicion lacing his tone. “He gave me his address before we left for the summer. Don’t think he knew that owl post doesn’t need an address half the time.”

“Interesting,” says Fred, exchanging a glance with his brother. He’s not  _ entirely  _ sure what George is thinking (for once) but he has a pretty good idea.

Ron’s eyes narrow. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing to worry your pretty little head about,” Fred quips, ruffling Ron’s hair. Ron swats his hands away angrily.

“Harry’s  _ my  _ friend!” He all but shouts. “What are you planning?”

Fred and George offer him identical smiles.

“We’re not sure yet,” George admits.

“But, when we figure it out, you’ll be the first to know,” Fred adds.

Ron frowns. “Promise?”

“Promise,” the twins say together, winking simultaneously at their little brother.

With that, they’re gone, already beginning to formulate a plan for Operation Rescue Harry.

(The idea to use the car comes to George in a blinding flash of inspiration over dinner that evening and it comes on so suddenly that he chokes on a piece of chicken.)

~

The house is asleep. Well, not quite. 

Three brothers creep downstairs as silently as they can, moving at half their normal speed to avoid detection. They’re grateful that their mother doesn’t bother setting up monitoring charms on their bedroom doors anymore. She figures they’re all old enough to look after themselves. 

When Fred starts the car (after a whispered debate about who would get to drive which Fred wins by virtue of being the eldest - by seven minutes), it’s horribly loud and all three of them feel their hearts thudding in their chests. Sneaking out after curfew at Hogwarts is one thing but facing the wrath of their mother is quite another.

None of them quite relax until they’re in the air.

The journey is long and fraught with tension which practically emanates from Ron who had spent the first ten minutes sulking about having to sit in the back seat. Ron doesn’t often show his concern so it worries the twins to see him so out of sorts. While they’re flying over some fairly nondescript fields, they find out why.

“Harry never talks about the muggles he lives with,” Ron says out of nowhere. “But I don’t like them.”

Fred remembers something then. “Didn’t you say he wasn’t expecting any Christmas presents last year?”

Ron sighs sadly. “Yeah. You should have seen the look on his face when he saw the jumper mum made for him.”

“He wouldn’t take it off,” George remembers absently. 

“Thought he was just being polite,” Fred adds.

“I mean,” George finishes, “It  _ was  _ hideous.”

They lapse into silence again after that, each remembering the year they spent with Harry at school. Fred remembers how Oliver had gone on and on about how light and speedy Harry was and he wonders now how much of it is natural. George remembers the sorting when Harry wolfed down his meal like he was afraid someone would take it away. Ron remembers the way Harry would flinch when Snape snuck up behind him in Potions class and mutter derogatory remarks about his work.

Remembering leaves a bitter taste in their mouths.

They arrive at Privet Drive and Fred flies lower, considering landing the car so they can look at the numbers on the doors but this turns out to be unnecessary when George points out an upstairs window with bars fixed across it. 

“That’s his,” Ron all but chokes. “Must be.”

The twins have to agree. Though none of them can possibly know for sure, they’re all certain that they’re right. 

When they finally lay eyes on Harry, the twins are so relieved to see him alive that they don’t even notice his rugged appearance. They see his mouth form Ron’s name with an expression of delighted disbelief before he opens the window and tries to ask what they’re doing here but he quickly becomes distracted by the  _ flying car _ and the twins share a smirk. 

“All right, Harry?” They say in unison, grins plastered across their faces. 

“What’s been going on?” Ron demands immediately, the relief evident in his voice. “Why haven’t you been answering my letters? I’ve asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you’d got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles…”

“It wasn’t me,” Harry says and the Fred raises his eyebrows in disbelief. 

While the pair continue talking in hushed whispers, Fred takes a moment to examine Harry’s appearance. The poor kid looks half-starved if the hollows of his pale cheeks are any indication. His green eyes, once vibrant, seem dull though Fred decides that it might be the lighting. George elbows him in the ribs just then and his look tells Fred that they’re thinking the same thing.

They have to get him out of here. 

Fred starts digging around under the driver’s seat and produces the tow rope stashed there just as Harry says, “But you can’t magic me out either-”

“We don’t need to,” Ron responds with a grin. “You forget who I’ve got with me.”

Fred tosses Harry the rope with instructions to tie it round the bars which he does with a whispered warning that the Dursleys will kill him if they hear. Fred pays this little mind. The Dursleys are going to kill him anyway if they don’t start feeding him. They need to get him out.

When the bars come away, the three brothers hold their breaths but the house is quiet. 

They liberate Harry’s things from the cupboard under the stairs and both are tempted to slip into the muggles’ bedroom and leave some stink bombs under the bed. But they don’t. Shame, really. Seeing Harry’s things - and even Harry himself - locked away is nowhere near as disturbing as what else they find in the cupboard which is home to the family cleaning supplies. 

An old blanket lies bundled up in the corner and a tiny little shelf over to the left plays host to some broken toy soldiers and a muggle maths workbook. The twins can perhaps dismiss these things as odds and ends tossed out of sight but the hastily drawn pictures taped messily beneath the shelf suggest something far worse. 

Fred has to sit down. Surely it must be something else. 

But Harry didn’t expect any presents for Christmas and his family didn’t think twice about locking him up in his bedroom. Why should a cupboard be any different?

George squeezes his shoulder.

“We’re getting him out,” he whispers reassuringly. 

Fred nods and silently thanks Ron for voicing his concerns about his best friend’s home situation. 

They’re getting him out. Thank Merlin.

**Author's Note:**

> i found this story hidden in my old writing folder. it's from 2016 but i still quite like it so here it is!


End file.
